


How Dare You

by theHunter_and_theNinja



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Assassination plot, Confrontations, M/M, brothers fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-21 11:37:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14914665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theHunter_and_theNinja/pseuds/theHunter_and_theNinja
Summary: Daryl, Maggie and Paul have waited patiently to put their plan to kill Negan into action and today is the day.Step 1: Create a distractionStep 2: Kill NeganStep 3: Get back home to Hilltop





	1. Stand Down

**Author's Note:**

> I like Rick as a character a lot, but I haven’t agreed with a lot of his recent decisions as leader; especially his singlehanded decision not to kill Negan. Basically, I wish he could stay around as a major character, but I think it’s time for a new leader. Either Maggie or Daryl have my vote.  
> So, I wrote what a confrontation about Negan between Rick and Daryl might look like.

“Daryl! Stand down!” Rick demanded, his python aimed at Daryl’s chest, but his finger not resting on the trigger.

Paul stood quietly in the shadows of the house in which Rick kept Negan. It has been a year since the end of the war and all of the communities were experiencing a time of peace and prosperity. Carol and Ezekiel had just recently announced that they are a couple, not married or engaged yet, just together. Tara and Rosita are together now and are not at all shy about public displaying their affection for each other. And, they hadn’t told anyone yet, he and Daryl had just recently started dating.

Maggie had given birth to a beautiful baby boy named Hershel Rhee, after her father, and was currently standing in the crowd that was gathering around Rick and Daryl’s public face off. She had left Hershel at Hilltop with Enid to keep him safe. The confrontation between Rick and Daryl has been a long time coming, but it’s occurrence had been carefully planned by him, Daryl, and Maggie. Daryl is the distraction, Maggie is the getaway driver, Paul is the assassin, and Negan is their target.

The plan is simple, keep the Alexandrians’ attention - most importantly Rick’s attention - firmly focused on Daryl and Rick’s fight giving Paul a chance to slip into the area in which Negan is kept and take him out. Maggie is here to ensure that he and Daryl are still welcome in Hilltop despite whatever happens here when Rick figures out what they’ve done.

* * *

“No!” Daryl growled lowly, his eyes glaring daggers at Rick.

“Daryl, listen to me. You don’t need to do this. He’s no longer a threat,” Rick tried to reason.

“He is! Negan will always be a threat as long as he is still breathing.”

“He’s locked up, ain’t no way he’s getting out of that cell,” Rick assured him.

“How can you be sure? That man has a silver, forked tongue hidden behind his teeth. I’d be willing to bet some of your guards are starting to go sweet on him,” Daryl argued back.

Rick has been slowly getting on his nerves over the course of the past year. They’d been closer than brothers at one point, but now Daryl felt like he didn’t know the man in front of him. This is a man that feels like he’s lost the one thing most important to him in the world, Carl, and in order to protect the rest of the things that make up his world, he must make some drastic decisions. This is a man in power who is getting out of control.

“Never, the guards know who he is and what he can do. They’d never let him out.”

“You sure about that? You remember the governor?”

“Yeah, what about him?” Rick seemed confused by the sudden change in subject.

“He was able to manipulate a whole group of civilians to come after us. Twice! Michonne noticed something off about him from the start and she warned Andrea, yet he still managed to ensnare her. He convinced Andrea of his innocence and, while I’m not her biggest fan, she wasn’t stupid.”

“What does that have to do with any of this?” Rick argued, sheathing his gun but not moving his hand from the stock of the gun.

“It has everything to do with it. The governor got away the first time, after murdering my brother, and then, when he came back, he killed Hershel and destroyed our home. The prisoners locked up in the cafeteria of the prison, Andrew escaped and when he came back he caused the deaths of T-Dog and Lori. Those psychos from Terminus escaped the first time and came back and killed Bob. The claimers tracked you for a long time after you were forced to kill one of their members and when the finally showed up, they tried to kill all of us. Hell, they even intended to rape Carl and Michonne before killing them. Do you see a pattern here?”

Rick remained silent, not having an answer.

Daryl huffed, his tone turning exasperated, “I’ll tell you the pattern. Each time one of them got away, they came back and took even more from us. Negan is a threat because he’s alive, Rick. Why can’t you see that?”

“He’s locked up, none of the others were. This is different. We have to start over, become something more, something better. I told you that this way of doing things is done and that anyone who can’t live with that will...”

“Pay the price. I know what you said, I was there,” Daryl cut him off.

Daryl was pissed and he had every right to be. He’d watched Negan kill Abraham and Glenn. He’d seen the aftermath of what happen to Sasha when she went to avenge Abraham’s death. He’d seen Negan mess with Carl’s mind at the sanctuary. He’d seen the many women Negan had kept as his wives, many of whom stayed out of fear and desperation, not love or want to be there. Negan may not have been dragging them into bed with him violently, but it was rape all the same.

He, himself, had been beaten, striped, and forcibly subjugated by Negan. Fed dog food and locked in a cell by Dwight. The only reason he’d let Dwight go was because he recognized that Dwight had no option other than to submit, plus he had helped them to defeat Negan. But if Dwight ever came back, he’d kill him in an instant. He had been forced to prepare food for him, clean up after the demonstrations of his power at the furnace and elsewhere, and put walkers on the fence unarmed and in his bare feet. Sure, he could’ve submitted and said he was Negan, but living that comfy lifestyle while his family suffered would’ve eaten him alive with guilt and shame.

“So what are you going to do, Rick? Because I’m not going to be able to live in peace until Negan is dead. You going to banish me? Lock me up until you’re satisfied I’ve learned my lesson?”

“No Daryl, you’re my brother. I would never...”

But Daryl wasn’t finished, “Iron the side of my face off? Threaten to hurt someone I love? Huh, Rick?!? What are you going to do?”

Daryl was now only a foot in front of Rick, his eyes blazing with anger and Rick’s face scolded into a quiet fury. Daryl had seen that look before. He’d seen it just before Rick had ripped Joe’s neck out, right before he’d killed Garth with his machete, right before murdering Tomas and leaving Andrew to die. He was sure he’d had that look before killing Shane and that man at Hilltop when they’d first arrived. He’s seen that look so many times before and it scared him. It reminded Daryl of how quiet his father would get before unlatching his belt and beating him; the calm before the storm.

“Are you saying that I’d do something Negan did to keep his people in line? To keep you in line?” Rick asked him, perplexed, fingers drumming lightly on the handle of his colt python.

Daryl looked him in the eyes, his gaze not wavering even an inch, “Yes.”

* * *

Paul quietly slipped behind the house in which Negan was being kept. He could see only one guard standing in front of the entrance, but she was obviously distracted by what was going on between Daryl and Rick. Her head turned in the direction of Main Street, her gun hanging calmly at her side, attention on trying to hear what was being said. Paul carefully crept up behind her doing his best to focus on his part of the task and not on what Daryl was saying.

“Huh, Rick?!? What are you going to do?” he heard Daryl yell.

The fight was heating up quickly, Paul needed to get this done before either of the men got hurt. Paul stood up slowly directly behind the poor woman he was about to knock out. He quickly wrapped his right hand over her mouth and used his free arm to wrap around her neck. He carefully lowered her to the ground as he waited for her to pass out. Once he felt her go limp, he released her throat and checked her breathing, only one person had to die today. Once he was sure she was going to be alright, he grabbed her gun and made his way down the stairs to where Negan sat in his cell.

The cell is comfortable and, if it had been located in a city before the turn, it probably would’ve been considered a nice apartment; minus the metal barred door, of course. Negan had a nice bed, a private bathroom that Rick had built for him so he didn’t have to go to the bathroom out in public, a set of table and chairs on which he enjoyed three warm, freshly cooked meals a day, and a bookcase filled to the brim with books. There was a barred window at the top of the cell to let in light and fresh air and fresh carpeting covered most of the concrete floor. A dresser was positioned at the bottom of his bed and stored clothes for Negan to wear every day and night and a hamper next to it for him to throw his dirty clothes in for washing.

The sight made Paul sick. Daryl, after one of his many nightmares, finally broke down and told Paul about what had happened to him in the sanctuary. Paul had held him and cradled Daryl against him as he spoke, sobbing softly. Daryl’s living conditions at the sanctuary were horrible. He’d had no bathroom, no bed, no table and chairs, no windows, no books, and definitely no three nice meals a day. He’d been fed dog food once a day, pissed in one corner and slept in another. He’d been naked, no clothes except dirty rags were given to him, and the entire time he’d been there the only cleaning he’d been allowed was the one time cleaning out of his bullet wound. A wound that, due to lack of proper care, had never fully healed and made it hard for Daryl to move it some days.

Paul closed the door to the house behind him and kept to the shadows as he made his way to the door of Negan’s cell. He paused just outside of the door, still partially hidden by shadow.

“Negan,” Paul said to make his presence known.

He wanted to watch Negan die, he wanted to see the look on his face as Negan realized he was going to die. Killing him now, without Negan even knowing he was there was too easy and could be considered a mercy.

“Well, well, well,” Negan said from his position reclining on his bed with a book in hand, “who has come to visit me? Jesus, that you?”

Paul stepped out of the shadows, eyes cold and unforgiving, “Yeah, and I’m here to deliver your soul.”

“Nice one, you practice that in front of the mirror before finally growing big enough balls to come down here to say it to me for real? Only took you a year.”

Quicker than lightning, Paul pulled out the gun, pointed it directly at Negan’s forehead, “I waited for the right moment and that is now. I am here on behalf of Maggie, Daryl, Sasha, Glenn, Dr. Carson, Abraham, Rory, Denise, Olivia, Hilltop, Alexandria, the Kingdom, and Oceanside. Your death is what they deserve and need to be at peace and now I’m going to help them achieve that sense of peace.”

Negan’s smile slowly dropped off as Paul recited the names of the people he’d either killed directly or caused the deaths of and Paul smiled. It was a cruel, haunting smile that told Negan he’d finally lost. Negan stood from his bed and slowly made his way towards Paul. There would be no more plotting to use his pushover guards to his advantage, no more charming people into listening to him, he’s met his match and it isn't Rick.

It is in the cold, harsh stare of a man whose confidence and drive is bolstered by his friends Maggie and Daryl, all of whom had decided their family had been through enough and weren’t willing to risk him getting free despite Rick’s orders. Rick hadn’t killed him, but Daryl and Maggie, though indirectly, had. Paul aimed at the space between Negan’s forehead and fired.

* * *

“Daryl, how can you accuse me of that? I did what Carl asked me to do. He was right, the fighting had to stop. There needed to be something after and there is,” Rick tried to reason with Daryl.

“Yeah, Carl asked for the fighting to stop. He asked you to spare Negan. I agree, the fighting and the bloodshed needs to stop. We need to find a better way, but there is no after until Negan is dead. I’m still at war! Every night, I’m back in that cell, alone and suffering at Negan’s hands. Sometimes I relive Glenn and Abraham’s deaths over and over. Sometimes I have to watch him murder everyone I love, Maggie, Paul, you, Judith, Carol, and more with that damn bat of his. The war never ended for me. It never ended for Maggie or Rosita. Rosita left Alexandria just like I did. She and Tara moved to Oceanside to escape Negan, just like how I moved to Hilltop for the same reason. Rosita loved Abraham as much as Sasha did. She can’t live here as long as that murderer lives and neither can I.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way but we agreed...”

“We didn’t agree on shit! YOU decided to spare his life. YOU told Siddiq to save him. YOU are the one that furnished his cell to look like some five star hotel. YOU are turning into him!”

“How dare you...!” Rick snarled.

“No!” Daryl yelled back at him, stepping up even more into his face, “How dare you!”

Daryl turned his back to Rick and stated pacing back and forth in front of him before coming to a stop next to Maggie who had stepped forward into the circle a bit as some point.

“How dare you decide to strip Maggie, Rosita, me and so many others of the justice we deserve. Negan forced you to give him stuff and thank him for it, but he didn’t murder the love of your life or torture you. If Negan had chosen Michonne or Carl out of that line up instead of Glenn and Abraham, he’d be dead right now. If it had been Carl or Michonne that had walked out of that coffin dead instead of Sasha, Negan would already be dead. If he’d gutted Carl instead of Spencer, you’d wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him. What makes the deaths of Glenn, Maggie’s husband, Abraham, a man Rosita loved, and Sasha, who died trying to avenge the death of the man she loved, worth less than the deaths of Michonne and Carl?”

“Daryl...” Rick started to say, but Daryl ignored him and continued.

“If...” Daryl took a shaky breath, “if Negan had taken Carl or Michonne instead of me, beat them instead of me, stripped and humiliated them instead of me, enslaved them instead of me, and fed them dog food instead of me, you would’ve never... _NEVER_... told Siddiq to save Negan. You’d have let him bleed out right there one the hill and felt satisfaction that they’d been avenged.”

Rick was silent, his gaze shifting back and forth from Michonne to Daryl and Maggie standing side by side, a wall of strength and resistance in front of him.

“What makes our suffering worth less than than the suffering of Michonne and Carl?” Daryl asked quietly, reminding Rick of a lost child who couldn’t understand why someone who claimed to love him so much could be so cruel and unfair to him.

“It is not worth less, I just recognize the need to stop the violence. It’s what Carl wanted,” Rick tried again, his resolve to keep Negan alive and locked up unbroken.

His gaze shifted over to Michonne and he could read the uncertainty in her eyes. She could see where both Rick and Daryl were coming from. Rick had robbed them of their sense of closure for what happened, but Carl was right that there needed to be a better way forward then just killing. Perhaps, there can still be something after if they kill Negan. It could be the ending to a chapter of violence in their lives and from that point on, they could be better without the weight of the past dragging them down. Michonne felt her views shifting over to the side of Daryl and Maggie.

Maggie stepped forward and voiced almost the exact line of thought Michonne had been pondering, “Let this be an end to a time of blood. After Negan is dead, we will go back to jails and trials. This way of life started the day you killed Shane back on my Daddy’s farm. Let us end it with the death of a tyrant who hurt and left so many without their loved ones. I can agree to this.”

“And so can I,” Daryl spoke up beside her again, his tone absolute and strong.

Michonne hesitated for just a second longer before breaking away from the group and joining Maggie and Daryl.

“So can I,” Michonne said, joining hands with Maggie and leveling her gaze at Rick.

“No,” Rick refused to listen, “if we let this one slide, we’ll let the next one slide too, and the one after that and so on. We can’t let ourselves revert back.”

“Rick,” Daryl spoke, “for us, Maggie and me at least because I don’t speak for Michonne, we never got out of it. It’s not over until he’s dead, so let us end this.”

“No...” Rick started to speak again, but was cut off by the loud bang of a gun firing.

Rick turned his head sharply in the direction of the noise. They then saw a flare shoot up into the sky and Daryl and Maggie smiled, Paul had done it. Negan was dead.

“The hell was that? It came from the direction of Negan’s cell...” Rick trailed off, finally getting it.

“You’re too late, Rick. It’s done. Negan is dead,” Maggie said, her tone cold.

Rick’s gaze was one full of anger and confusion. He turned to a group of armed Alexandrians, “lock them up and go do the same to whoever it was that shot Negan,” he ordered.

Daryl and Maggie did not fight as handcuffs were placed over their wrists, their mission was accomplished. One of the guards went to handcuff Michonne too, but Rick stopped them. When Michonne started to protest, Rick cut her off and grabbed Daryl by the arm, leading him in the direction of Negan’s cell. One of the guards followed closely behind with Maggie.

When they arrived at the cell, Daryl and Maggie were pleased to see Negan’s dead body on the floor of the cell. They were less pleased to see three guns pointed at Paul’s head to keep him from slipping his cuffs. Rick had obviously learned his lesson about Paul after the food truck incident.

Once Daryl and Maggie were inside, the three guards took their guns off of Paul, confident that the gun Rick was holding was enough to prevent him from trying to escape, as they dragged Negan’s body out of the cell and locked the door behind them.

“I’ll be back soon to deal with you three,” Rick said before turning to the guards and telling them to stand guard over the prisoners.

They nodded and took their posts. One at the end of the hallway, one just outside the basement door and finally, one outside guarding the main entrance.

Rick paused and turned back to them and spoke softly, confused by their actions, “Daryl, you’re my brother. How could you do this to me behind my back? You’re tearing our family apart.”

Daryl looked Rick dead in the eyes, “Yes, you’re my brother and I love you. But  I didn’t drive this wedge between us, you did. _You_ divided this family the second you told Siddiq to save Negan. What has happened is your fault. _You_ are the one destroying our family.”

As soon as Rick was gone, after a sad shake of his head, Paul slipped his cuffs. He then helped Maggie and Daryl do the same. They weren’t going to run, the cuffs were just uncomfortable. Paul released Maggie, hugging her tightly for a brief moment, and then releasing Daryl before pulling him into a kiss.

“Good job,” Daryl told him and kissed him again.

“I caught part of your fight with Rick, I’m sure it was a sight to behold.”

“It was,” Maggie said smiling, “I haven’t seen him talk that much since the prison.”

Paul looked at the bed and debated about lying down on it, but there was blood all over the covers from him putting a bullet in Negan’s brain so he opted for the table and chairs. Maggie and Daryl quickly joined him as they discussed what was going to happen next. They’d accomplished their mission, now to get back home.

 


	2. Trial

Daryl was awoken by the sound of a metal door opening and the sound of footsteps. The next thing he noticed was that he was sitting at what felt like a wooden table instead of asleep next to Paul in bed. Daryl furrowed his brows as he slowly lifted his head. His neck was stiff from the awkwardness of the angle in which he’d slept. He opened his eyes and grimaced as bright sunlight flooded his vision. When his vision cleared he could see Paul asleep on the table to his right and Maggie to his left, Paul’s fingers interwoven with his. Suddenly, the events of yesterday came rushing back to him and he realised they were in the cell in Alexandria to answer for their “crime.”

“Get up,” a harsh voice spoke over his shoulder and he turned to see who it was.

Daryl didn’t recognize the man, must be from the Sanctuary, and noticed that his hand was placed firmly on the stock of his gun. His face was hard and angry, he’d probably been one of the Negan sympathizers they’d been worried about. A groan next to his pulled his attention away from the guard.

Paul slowly lifted his head off his arm and let go of Daryl’s hand to properly stretch. Daryl could see that Maggie was slowly waking up at the sudden disturbance of the guard. Daryl rubbed the sleep from his eyes and turned, “What?”

“Rick wants you all escorted outside. He’s decided to let each of you speak once and anyone from the community that wants to say anything before he decides on what to do with you. We sent messengers to the other communities last night. Carol, Ezekiel, and Kal have already arrived. We’re just waiting for the Oceanside and the Sanctuary representatives to arrive.”

Daryl nodded, he’d expected this. Michonne encouraging Rick to make an attempt at saving face by including all of the communities in their sentencing. He should’ve done that with Negan, but what’s done it done; no changing it now.

“We’ll be ready, not like we’re going anywhere,” Daryl said to the guard.

“Good,” was all he said and then left, slamming the door behind him.

Maggie and Paul both jolted the rest of the way awake at the sudden loud noise.

“What he want?” Paul yawned.

“Rick’s called in reps from all the communities for us to plead our case to. He should’ve done this with Negan.”

“He should’ve, but he didn’t and now he had to deal with the consequences,” Maggie said, “watching his family tear itself apart.”

Daryl nodded, “why couldn’t he have just listened to us? It’s not like we haven’t approached him before about at least holding a proper trial with all the communities present. If as a group we decided to spare him, I could live with that because we decided it together with all of our voices being heard. And if the outcome was we kill him, Rick should’ve accepted it and done it.”

“I know, but he is a prideful man that is still suffering from the loss of his son. Rick won’t admit it, but he’s broken. Carl’s death broke him in ways that no one, not even Michonne and Judith can fix. He survived for Carl, he’s lost his reason for surviving this world. We have to remember that,” Maggie said.

“But it still doesn’t give him the right to decide everything for everyone else. If he keeps going down this road, he’ll just become another Negan,” Daryl reminded her.

“I know, that’s why we did this. It was justice and a wake up call for Rick,” Maggie assured him, taking his hand, “His word is not gospel and it’s time someone reminded him of that fact.”

“I’m pretty sure at least Tara and Rosita guarantee that Oceanside will be with us, I’m assuming their the Oceanside reps. Carol and the Hilltop will be behind us, too. I’m not sure about Ezekiel though, his community was the last one to joint the fight. He may see this as an act of revenge, not justice,” Paul spoke up, shifting the conversation to what comes next, their trial.

“But he is dating Carol, wouldn’t surprise me if he supports her views. She is a force to be reckoned with,” Daryl countered.

“True, so we can agree that Ezekiel is the only wild card in the other communities. I’m pretty sure Eugene and the new sanctuary will take the side of Rick. A lot of those people still hold some sense of loyalty towards Negan, it’s why they chose to stay at the Sanctuary under Eugene’s leadership,” Maggie said.

“It’s going to be hard to predict where the Alexandrian residents will land on the matter,” Paul mused.

“I think Aaron will be with us because Eric died fighting Negan. The people here loved and respected both of them, maybe it’ll draw some of them over to our side,” Daryl offered.

Paul nodded, they all fell silent. If Rick wanted to lock them up for a time, they had no idea what would happen. Maggie needed to be there for her son and Paul worried that Rick would put them all in separate cells.

Paul wasn’t sure he’d be able to cope with not being able to be with Daryl and he knew Daryl would not do well shut up in a cell. The man had to leave the bathroom door open otherwise he’d have a panic attack from the confined space. The only reason he wasn’t having a panic attack now was probably because he wasn’t in here alone. He knew Daryl suffered from severe PTSD from the sanctuary and would most likely end up hurting himself during one of his nightmares or flashbacks if he was locked up in a small cell by himself.

Rick couldn’t really assign community service because they already did so much for their community it wouldn’t feel any different than normal. The most likely option was that they’d be banished from Alexandria, though Paul was sure Rick would try to get all of the communities to cast them out. That would never work and they all knew it. They knew that if they were banished, it would most likely only be in effect in Alexandria and maybe the Sanctuary, which was fine since Daryl and Maggie wouldn’t set foot there in a million years anyway, because they doubted the other communities would be okay with losing a community leader and two of their best fighters and scavengers in one fell swoop. Plus, Carol loved Daryl and Maggie too much to lose him, same goes for Tara and Rosita at Oceanside. Hilltop felt too much love and loyalty for all three of them to let them go.

The door swung open again and in walked three guards, all armed and carrying handcuffs. They each stood and calmly waited as the handcuffs were placed on their wrists, “don’t slip them this time, understood?”

Paul smirked and nodded, the three sets of handcuffs from yesterday sitting in plain view on the nightstand next to the bed. He was grabbed roughly by one of guards and heard Daryl growl out a warning behind him. The guard’s grip loosened significantly and Paul barely managed to hide his smile over the fact the guard was still wary of Daryl even when he was handcuffed and surrounded by armed guards.

When the stepped outside, they were greeted by a rather large crowd of people that had traveled from the other communities to either condemn or support them. It looked like more than just the community leaders had shown up with at least 20 people sporting armbands from communities other than Alexandria.

Carol, Ezekiel, Kal, Tara, Rosita, and Eugene stood on the porch of the house in a a kind of semi circle with Rick and Michonne front and center. Daryl could physically see the distance between Rick and Michonne and felt slightly guilting at being part of the reason for the distance, but not enough to get him to back down. Michonne had made her choice yesterday when she moved to stand beside them and while Daryl greatly appreciated her support, it had obviously brought some tension between her and Rick.

Rick’s face was hard and his eyes cold just like they had been yesterday. Ezekiel, Rosita, and Eugenes’ expressions gave nothing away about how they felt about what had happened. Carol looked pissed, but also worried which meant the anger was probably directed at Rick and not them. Tara looked pissed as well, but her angry gaze was directed directly at Rick’s back, so they weren’t worried. Michonne’s face held a look of determination, there was no way she was going to back down from her new stance on this matter. Kal’s eyes lit up when he saw Maggie

 _“Poor kid,”_ Daryl thought, _“he’s going to have to wait a while for anything to come of his crush on her.”_

The guards moved them to stand the three of them side by side before moving over to the side of the porch. Daryl and Maggie stood on the ends with Paul in between them. They all took a stance of strength, standing up straight, shoulders back, chests forward, and legs hip width apart to create what looked like a wall of defiance. Their heads were held high and their expressions conveyed no remorse over what they’d done. Practically radiating power, determination, and completely unashamed of their actions as they stood there staring down Rick. Rick shifted uncomfortably under their intense gazes, which lit a small spark of satisfaction in Paul’s chest.

“Are these things really necessary?” Paul spoke up first, “I mean really, why would we run? If we were ashamed of our actions we might, but we’re not.”

“Yes, they will stay on...” Rick started, leveling his gaze at Paul.

Michonne, however, cut him off and stepped forward, “release their hands, I trust that they will not run. They wouldn’t get very far anyway.”

Rick glanced at Michonne with what appeared to be annoyance at being undermined in front of all these people, but said nothing as one of the guards moved to unlock Daryl’s cuffs. When the guard moved to Paul, Paul reached out his hand and placed the handcuffs in the palm of the guard, smirking at him. Daryl snorted and took Paul’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. A lot of their family members did a double take of their intertwined hands, but none of them said anything. Daryl caught Tara’s gaze and she smiled gave him a thumbs up making Daryl blush a bit.

Once all of them were free of the cuffs, Rick turned to address the crowd.

“These people have been charged with the murder of Negan. They plotted and went behind our backs to kill a man we had ordered to be protected,” Rick began.

“You mean that _you_ ordered!” Aaron shouted from the back of the crowd holding Gracie.

Rick paused before speaking again, “I may have ordered it, but you all agreed to it.”

“No we didn’t,” someone from Oceanside countered, “you didn’t even bother to ask us what we wanted.”

People started speaking all at once, some trying to keep the peace, mostly the Alexandrians, but a lot of people were pointing their fingers at Rick. Nobody moved forward physically, which Daryl was thankful for, the last thing he wanted to cause was an all out brawl.

“Yeah! Negan murdered my brother!”

“My husband!”

“My daughter!”

“My mother!”

Rick backed up a bit, shaken by the crowd’s angry outburst. He’d obviously expected most of them to be on his side. The community leaders remained quiet as the people below shouted. Maggie turned towards the crowd and raised her fist. Paul caught on and raised his free hand to his lips and whistled loud and clear. It had been a signal during the war to call attention to the leaders as they gave orders during battle, Maggie figured people would still be subconsciously trained to listen and watch for it. Her theory was proven right as the crowd grew quiet as soon as they heard the whistle.

Rick took the silence to begin speaking again, “I understand your pain. I lost people, too. But the fact still stands that these three disrupted the peace we now enjoy by murdering Negan. They violated a symbol of a new beginning and a better way of life. Negan was incarcerated instead of killed because we can’t continue down that path. Bloodshed only causes more bloodshed.”

Rick stopped and turned to face away from the crowd and looked at the three of them instead.

“Because I know that none of you would hurt any of the people here, we have a more options than we did with Negan. The first option is we build a few more cells and lock you all up for a while. The second option is banishment from all of the communities. All of you are capable of surviving out there, especially with each other...”

“So you would forcefully separate me from my son? Or are you planning on banishing my son, too?” Maggie demanded, cutting Rick off.

“Not all of you need to have the same sentence. Maggie, your situation is different from theirs because of your son. You’ll probably be locked up from a little while.”

“Again, are going to forcefully separate me from my son?”

Michonne stepped forward and grabbed Rick’s arm, “Back off, Rick,” she warned.

Eugene spoke up, “there is another option.”

Rick turned to look at him, “What?”

“House arrest,” Eugene supplied, “It was a common practice long ago when putting a criminal in a normal jail would cause more trouble such as riots in and outside the prison. We could confine her to Barrington house and place a few guards on her and remove her from her position as leader of Hilltop. That way she can be with her son and still carry out her sentence.”

Rick nodded, “sounds fair enough. Daryl, you’ll serve your time in the cell here once we clean it. As for you Jesus, banishment is really the only option since we can’t trust you not to break out of your cell. We all just saw how easily you can escape cuffs.”

Paul stomach dropped, he’d been worried about Rick trying to separate them in different cells, he didn’t realize just how much Rick would want to separate them. He could sneak back in and free Daryl and then take off together, but he didn’t think Rick’s version of banishment meant letting walk out the gates. It probably entailed driving him hundreds of miles away, giving a few provisions and then threatening to shoot him on sight if they ever saw him again.

“No,” Daryl growled at Rick.

“Excuse me?”

“I said no. You will not banish Paul.”

“I’ll do whatever needs to be done. We can’t trust him not to break both of you out on the first night.”

“If he goes, I go with him.”

“Daryl, don’t do this. I don’t know what is going on between you two, but I can guarantee it’s not worth abandoning your family for.”

“Yes, he is. I love him.”

Rick looked taken aback by Daryl’s sudden confession. Paul looked shocked at first too before his face broke into a huge grin and he squeezed Daryl’s hand tight with his own in response. Now was not the time for huge romantic displays of affection or for pouring out their hearts to each other. Daryl looked over at the other leaders, begging them to step forward and defy Rick’s dictatorship.

Carol walked forward, “I speak for the Kingdom when I say you can banish him from the other communities, but he will always be welcome with us.”

“I speak for Oceanside,” Tara spoke up and went to stand by Carol, “they will always be welcome with us.”

Kal stepped up beside Carol and Tara, “Maggie is our leader and Paul and Daryl are her second in commands, they will all be welcome at Hilltop.”

Rick turned to them, “you can’t do this...”

“Yes, we can,” Ezekiel spoke, leaning on his staff, “You do not own us. We are allies and that means we work together, but it doesn’t mean we have to accept your word as law if we don’t agree with it. Is this not why you called us here today? To work together to decide on their fate? Because right now it appears as if you plan to assign their different fates yourself.”

Rick shifted uncomfortably at Ezekiel’s words as he looked at the other leaders.

“You are the leader of Alexandria and nothing else. We are independent communities that all came together in a time of crisis, but that doesn’t mean we are all under your leadership. Tara and I represent Oceanside, but we do not Oceanside’s leaders. Cyndie is our leader and she answer to no one except her own people,” Rosita said.

Kal crossed his arms over his chest, “You don’t have any power over Hilltop either. Maggie is the best leader Hilltop’s ever had. We’re not letting her go and I won’t let you take away her from her child. Daryl and Jesus are two of our best members and Maggie’s advisors and second-in-commands; you can’t banish them.”

Rick backed up as the line of leaders and reps, all except for Eugene, turned against him.

“As I said before,” Maggie said, “killing Negan was an end to a time of blood for us. From now on, jails and trials will be what we use. But I couldn’t start doing that without gaining closure first. Everyone that Negan murdered...”

Rosita and Tara nodded, joining hands remembering Denise and Abraham.

“tortured...”

Paul squeezed Daryl’s hand and leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

“or were forced to hurt others or be hurt themselves...”

Some of the old saviors who left the sanctuary to join one of the other communities after the end of the war nodded.

“can now have closure and move on knowing the person that caused so much pain is gone. He is no longer alive to be a reminder of the horrors we endured at his hands. He was not a symbol of a new beginning, he was the mascot of the past and now we can put him behind us.”

Rick looked out over the crowd and the faces of his family and his resolve began to crumble, but he refused to go down without a fight, “No! There needed to be something more than violence in that war. Carl saw that and he begged me in the last letter I got from him to stop the fighting. He even asked Negan to stop the fighting in one of his letters. I was honoring my son and you robbed me of that.”

“You robbed us of closure and justice. We approached you before about holding a proper trial for Negan and we’d all accept the outcome of it, whatever it was. You refused, three times you shut us down and told us to go home and forget about it,” Daryl said, “I remember you saying ‘I did it for Carl,’ but wouldn’t Carl also want you to listen to your people? Your family?”

Rick started backing up towards Michonne, his hands coming up to cover his face and he looked about ready to fall over, “I... I had to. Carl, my son, his last wish was for a better world... I had to give it to him... I...”

Rick collapsed and Michonne did her best to catch him and slowly lower him to the ground. Rick was now starting to cry and stopped making a lot of sense, “Carl... no more fighting... have to stop it. My son wanted peace I had to give him peace. I had to...”

Daryl watched the scene unfold and felt horrible that this is what it took for Rick to finally give in and let himself break down. He’d refused to step down as leader after the war was over and his family had recognized it as a coping mechanism for losing Carl. It seemed like being in charge was the only thing keeping him sane and their defiance over Negan had been the last straw. He couldn’t cope anymore, he needed to step down and let Michonne take over because he was unfit to be in charge in the state he was in. He’d been emotionally and mentally compromised since the second he found out Carl was bit, but nobody had been able to get through to him until now. Daryl just wished his breakdown hadn’t been so public.

“I can’t do this anymore... Michonne, please help me,” he whispered as he cried and held onto her like a lifeline.

They all stood there in silence knowing it was over, Rick had finally let himself go, let himself feel the full pain of the loss of his son. When Rick finally passed out from exhaustion, it was well known that he was barely able to sleep and almost never ate, Michonne lowered him the rest of the way to the floor.

She stood up and addressed everyone, “I will be relieving Rick of his role as leader of Alexandria because he is emotionally and mentally unstable because of the death of his son. Anyone have a problem with that?”

No one spoke up.

“Good. As for you three,” she said turned to them, “I understand why you had to do it, just like how I had to find and kill the governor back at the prison. My only command is that you stay out of Alexandria for the time being to give Rick some time to process what has happened. When I think he’s stable enough to see you again, I will send someone to let you know you’re able to come to Alexandria again. He will be angry with you for a while because Carl was bit, not murdered which means he has no one to direct his bottles up anger at other than you three.”

They nodded, understanding her reasoning. The fact that it was a walker and not another person that killed Carl made the pain of losing him so much worse. There was no one to blame for his death because the thing that killed him was already dead. It wasn’t like how Maggie lost Glenn, she’d stayed sane by focusing her anger on Negan and doing everything in her power to bring him down. Rick didn’t have that and it was killing him. Daryl felt for Rick, he wanted to help his brother so bad, but he knew his presence right now would only further complicate matters.

“We shall take our leave then,” Ezekiel said and motioned for the crowd to clear.

Daryl, Maggie, and Paul began making their way towards where they’d parked their car yesterday when they’d arrived. Daryl heard footsteps coming from behind him so he paused and turned around only to suddenly be enveloped by Carol wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his cheek before pulling away, “Congratulations on your new relationship.”

“Thanks,” Daryl smiled glancing behind him at Paul.

“He’d better treat you right because if he doesn’t I’ll throw his ass to the walkers.”

“Same goes for Ezekiel,” Daryl laughed, her hugging her one more time before she left to join Ezekiel at the gate.

A smile played on his lips as he watched Ezekiel greet her kiss a chaste kiss before mounting their horses and leaving. Michonne came over and hugged each of them goodbye before heading back to her house to care for Rick and Judith. Tara and Rosita both gave his a thumbs up and Tara even shouted, “get some!” as they made their way out, making Daryl blush hard. Kal came running up to them and threw his arms out to pull Maggie into a hug that she gladly accepted. The kid was in deep and honestly, Daryl couldn’t blame him, Maggie was a pretty badass woman.

“Time to go home?” Paul asked opening the door of their car.

“Yeah, let’s go home,” Daryl said leaning in and kissing Paul while pointedly ignoring Maggie and Kal’s high five next to them.

Negan was dead, Rick was finally going to get the help he so desperately he needed and all was good for the first time in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated! <3


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